________________
SUTRAS
HOW TO DISSOLVE KARMA
161
cide for a positive path that leads towards more understanding. This process can be trained and will grow with practice.
Completing all unfinished activities frees our mind and emotion from open issues that 'are a load on our soul'.
Few people are aware how much energy they waste to control their sheer mountain of unfinished business. The very objects of daily life constantly direct our attention towards these matters: the telephone reminds us of things we should have talked over with someone long ago; our untidy desk tells us that important papers are about to drown in a heap of junk mail; the burned-out light-bulb warns us that access to the cellar has become a hazardous undertaking; - the list could easily continue.
Compensating for all this unfinished business takes far more energy than its completion would require. Concluding these issues often feels like a considerable liberation. When mind, memory and emotions are free from these matters, they become open for far more significant issues.
Actively orienting our life towards expansion means to direct attention and action towards transcending our limits and boundaries.
The manifestation of karma often tires us bodily and emotionally. This may cause a profound longing for inner peace and equanimity. When - at times of less intense karmic activity - a (temporary) emotional equanimity arises, we usually try to hold onto this state8. Unfortunately this easily leads to a type of stagnancy where life becomes reduced to habit and anything new that may imperil this momentary stability is rejected.
8 Periods of rest and recuperation will happen automatically and with
out our prompting since they are necessary for reflecting and condensing our experiences. As we sleep and dream periodically to regenerate our mind and body, so we also experience regular times where our karmic manifestations are less intense. But as with sleep and dream it is impossible to willingly prolong these times of recuperation.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org